GOOD DAY FOR: Drowning your troubles, as The Fifty/50 restaurant in Chicago is offering half-priced drinks for current and former employees of Lehman Brothers and AIG. The offer is good, Sundays through Thursdays, until October. “Everybody is freaking out,” said co-owner Scott Weiner. “We wanted to do something to make their day a little better.” (Reuters)

BAD DAY FOR: A green Christmas, after U.S. retailers are projected to have their worst holiday season since 2002. The National Retail Federation said that, due to household budgets being squeezed by the weak economy, November-December sales should rise 2.2 percent, to $470.4 billion, from last year’s 4.4 percent increase. “We expect consumers to be frugal this season,” said NRF economist Rosalind Wells. (CNNMoney.com)